Agenda item

 

To receive a report and presentation which provides information concerning the proposed Housing Strategy 2025-2030 and consider the Commission’s position with respect to the recommendations to be made to Cabinet in that regard in September 2025.

 

At the Chair’s invitation, the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Beresford, introduced the item, explaining that housing affects every resident in the borough. Getting the Housing Strategy right was imperative to support the delivery of the overall Council plan and to ensure that everybody could live in a safe, warm and decent home.

 

Sarah Watts, Strategic Housing Manager, explained that the draft Housing Strategy was the fifth chapter of the Council’s 30-year strategy. The Strategy had changed in time period length from three years to five years in order to align with the Council Plan. The Strategy would be taken to Cabinet for approval on 15 September 2025. Cabinet would be asked to delegate approval to agree the final Action Plan for the Housing Strategy to the Strategic Director and it was planned to bring this draft Action Plan to IPSC in October so that members could help shape the Plan and then receive annual progress reports on its delivery.

 

The Strategic Housing Manager explained that there had been a slight revision to the wording of priority 3 since the papers had been published for IPSC – “Preventing homelessness and supporting our residents to live independently” had been altered to “Supporting our residents to live independently, including through the prevention of homelessness”.

 

Garry Newton, Housing Development Intelligence Coordinator, provided a summary of the consultation process that had been carried out since August 2024, to understand what residents’ main housing priorities were, as individuals and families. Feedback on the Strategy had been obtained from all relevant directorates across the council and from officers involved in the Council Plan. This collaboration had ensured that all aims and priorities within the Strategy were tied up to create a one council approach.

 

The Strategic Housing Manager went through the four key priorities of the Housing Strategy in more detail, and explained that there were three cross-cutting aims that flow through them, being:-

 

·            Keeping residents safe and warm

·            Reducing carbon emissions

·            Reducing inequalities in and between communities

 

Priority 1 – Building high quality, sustainable and affordable new homes

This priority would be about the Council leading by example with the homes that are built under its development programme and working across the housing sector to meet local housing need and provide good quality homes that are fit for the future. This would be done by continuing with the Council’s development programme to deliver more homes for Council rent whilst ensuring that 25% of affordable housing is delivered through planning policy.

 

Priority 2 – Improving the safety, quality and energy efficiency of our homes

This priority would be about holding all landlords to account to ensure that no residents are living in poor quality and unsafe homes. The Council, as a landlord, will ensure that it meets social housing requirements around decency, compliance, safety, and tenant satisfaction. The Council will also work with landlords to help them to address hazards within their properties and to support them with the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill.

 

Priority 3 - Supporting our residents to live independently, including through the prevention of homelessness

This priority would be about the Council ensuring that it know its residents well to help meet their accommodation and support needs. This would be achieved through providing access to appropriate aids and adaptations and also ensuring that the Council’s housing allocations policy works well.

 

Priority 4 – Ensuring that our neighbourhoods are safe, happy and thriving

This priority reflected a theme which runs through the Council Plan. Housing will play its part in this through delivery of an empty homes plan, targeting properties which blight communities and impact on people's quality of life. There will also be continued investment into communities and shared spaces, improving the way the Council engages with tenants and residents to shape their communities and tackle anti-social behaviour when it presents.

 

The Chair invited members of the Improving Places Select Commission (IPSC) to raise questions and queries on the Report, draft Housing Strategy and presentation and in the ensuing question and answer session the following points were raised:

 

Councillor Thorp asked how the service could enforce action against the owner of an empty property which blights a community? The Strategic Housing Manager explained that there would be a dual approach between the Housing team and Enforcement team to try and get private owners to bring a derelict property back into use. An Empty Homes Officer would carry out initial investigation work and try and engage with owners to create an action plan in order to avoid formal enforcement. The Council had also had some success via an acquisitions programme, where owners have been willing to offer their property to the Council.

 

Councillor Thorp also asked how residents/members can report any issues with empty properties. The Strategic Housing Manager confirmed that there is an online form on the Council website to report issues with empty properties and would circulate details after the meeting.

 

Councillor Taylor enquired what a typical retrofit for a Council owned property would look like, bearing in mind the commitment to energy efficiency in Priority 2 of the Housing Strategy. How long would it take and was there a scheduled programme? John Holman, the Interim Assistant Director of Housing, responded by explaining that the fabric of the property would be dealt with first - external wall insulation or cavity wall insulation, combined with loft insulation. Properties would be prioritised based on which were in the worst condition and where the government grant would support. The government grant would currently support bringing an EPC rated D property up to a C rating. There were some Council-owned properties currently with an E rating which would be funded internally. The Interim Assistant Director of Housing confirmed that there was a programme of retrofit works which could be shared with members and that the Council had to date, been successful in securing government grants.

 

The Chair asked whether, bearing in mind the Council’s commitment to provide 1,000 more homes, there were enough brownfield sites within the borough to provide this or would development on greenbelt land need to be considered? Andrew Bramdige, the Strategic Director for Regeneration & Environment, explained that a report would go before Cabinet on 15 September setting out the Local Development Strategy, which provided the timetable for the production of a new local plan up until 2029. One of the steps in this would be a call for new development sites.

 

Councillor Lelliott raised an issue surrounding Priority 3 – Neighbourhoods are safe, happy and thriving. Councillor Lelliott reported that a lot of her casework  involved reports of anti-social behaviour, particularly by council tenants, and residents’ dissatisfaction with the amount of time that it often took for the Council to take any action against them. Councillor Lelliott felt that the draft Housing Strategy did not sufficiently address the issue of anti-social behaviour and that the Council’s response to it was not robust enough. Councillor Lelliott commented that how effectively issues are addressed depended a lot on the strength of the relevant Housing Officer and the other community support personnel involved and that a stronger, more joined up approach should be reflected in the Strategy.

 

The Interim Assistant Director of Housing agreed that a joined-up approach by different partners and agencies was key in dealing with anti-social behaviour. Where council tenants are involved, this would be tackled by Tenancy Officers and Housing Management Officers as the Council has powers under its tenancy agreements to take action. However, there were often anti-social behaviour issues that did not involve council tenants and there were wider challenges with health and mental health. It was suggested by the Interim Assistant Director of Housing (and further recommended by the Cabinet Member later in the meeting) that IPSC may wish to consider a “deep dive” workshop session on anti-social behaviour to fully explore the issues affecting residents. This suggestion was welcomed by members.

 

Councillor Stables asked a question about the increased council tax liability that applied to long-term empty properties. Councillor Stables understood that there was a national register of empty properties and that once a property had been in a state of disrepair for a long time, the owner could apply for it to be exempt from council tax. Councillor Stables commented that this seemed very unfair and a way in which owners could evade liability or enforcement and asked whether there were any plans for the Council to lobby the government to change this?

 

The Strategic Housing Manager agreed that this a frustrating loophole and that such cases are dealt with by the District Valuation Officer. However, cases should still be reported to the Empty Properties team. The Chair asked if the Council had a list of properties deemed uninhabitable and the Strategic Housing Manager confirmed that Housing worked with Council Tax throughout the year to obtain a full list of properties declared empty.

 

Councillor Jackson asked that more detail be provided on delivering improvements to council estates, communal and shared areas and queried if there was a budget for this? The Strategic Housing Manager commented that where there were communal spaces on areas of housing land or possibly large blocks of flats with communal areas, revenue spent on these areas would come from the Housing budget. Keeping these areas clean, tidy and safe was a factor that would be considered in housing investment.

 

Councillor Tinsley referred to one of the empty property success stories mentioned in the draft strategy, which had been eventually redeveloped and sold on for three times its previous value. Councillor Tinsley asked whether the Council considered going down the compulsory purchase route when all other avenues had been exhausted? The Strategic Housing Manager commented that compulsory purchase is an available option but that all properties were assessed to ensure the right route was used, with the ultimate aim of bringing properties back into use to meet housing need.

 

Councillor Tinsley also returned to the earlier issue of anti-social behaviour and agreed that a more joined up approach was required, with outcomes varying depending on the Housing Officer involved. He suggested that there could be a push on neighbourhood working to ensure that each Housing Officer knew their area well and worked closely with other stakeholders in that area. The Interim Assistant Director of Housing confirmed that there was an established neighbourhood model but accepted the point that as the nature of tenancy management had changed in recent years, this could be revisited and developed.

 

Councillor Thorp mentioned issues his constituents had experienced with housing allocation, namely poor communication and a lack of understanding as to where they sat on the list of priority. The Interim Assistant Director of Housing responded that this issue concerned the Housing Allocations Policy, which would also be going to Cabinet in September, and would be better looked at in detail separately.

 

Councillor Allen questioned how the Council planned to measure success in creating “safe, happy and thriving neighbourhoods”? This priority was more people than place focused and residents were frequently telling the Council of their concerns around anti-social behaviour. Councillor Allen felt that this had not been reflected adequately within the current draft strategy and suggested that building a case study on anti-social behaviour within the strategy would help to allay residents’ concerns.

 

Councillor Allen further raised reservations about the use of the word “happy” within Priority 4 as this was a very subjective word which could mean many different things to different people. Happiness would be very difficult to measure, compared to “safe” and “thriving”. Councillor Allen also commented that it would be good to reflect tenant satisfaction measures more within the Strategy.

 

The Interim Assistant Director of Housing agreed that the inclusion of further case studies would be a good idea and accepted the point regarding the use of the word “happy” which could be taken forward to Cabinet for consideration. The Housing Development Intelligence Coordinator commented that the word “happy” had been used to align with the Council Plan. The Cabinet Member for Housing also agreed with Councillor Allen’s point about the use of the word “happy” and after some discussion amongst members, it was suggested that an alternative wording for Priority 4 of the draft Housing Strategy should be put forward to Cabinet for consideration - “safe, thriving and places people want to live in”.

 

The Interim Assistant Director of Housing explained that tenant satisfaction was reported on monthly and that information on this is provided on the council website. The Strategic Housing Manager further commented that tenant satisfaction measures would be key for the annual reporting on the Housing Strategy and suggested that there could be more discussion on this in the October IPSC meeting when members can help to develop that Action Plan.

 

Councillor Sheppard raised questions around the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill. How did the service think this would change the way the Council works with tenants to help them secure long-term tenancies and protect them in their existing tenancies? How would the Council communicate the impact of the changes to tenants in the private sector? The Strategic Housing Manager confirmed that there was a communications plan around the Renters’ Rights Bill and that the Housing team were working closely with colleagues in homelessness to plan for the increased demand for accommodation. Private landlords were also being encouraged to “Call Before You Serve” and engage with the Council early, before serving eviction notices, so that the Council could act as a mediator and try and work out a better solution, to avoid some evictions.

 

Councillor Ahmed raised a question around supporting residents with complex needs. Councillor Ahmed was aware that there were currently no respite properties available to provide positive behaviour support and felt that the alternatives offered to families of supporting them from home, did not meet need. The Strategic Housing Manager acknowledged the ongoing challenges in this area of conflicting need and confirmed that the Housing team would continue to work closely with colleagues in Adult Social Care and Children & Young People’s Services to understand what future demand would look like. A government directive was expected towards the end of the year around a supported housing strategy and once received, the Housing team would work through the detail of that.

 

Councillor Jones commented that anti-social behaviour continues to be a huge issue and often occurred on areas of land within housing estates that are not well-maintained e.g alleyways, pieces of grass. Councillor Jones felt that Housing Officers were less visible and that residents and members no longer had direct contact details for Housing Officers, which had led to long delays in issues being addressed. Councillor Jones suggested that estate walkabouts, which used to regularly take place, should be reinstated.

 

The Interim Assistant Director of Housing accepted that a programme of regular estate walkabouts had slipped and was something the service wanted to reinstate. Councillor Jackson commented that in his ward, walkabouts and meetings with neighbourhood partners had never stopped, so there must be variations by area.

 

Councillor Jackson asked whether the Council worked with the NHS when dealing with adaptations to properties due to medical need/rehab requirements. Had existing properties been adapted and was there the ability to design new houses with adaptations built in? The Strategic Housing Manager confirmed that work was done with the Adult Social Care team and the NHS to look at complex needs and adaptations. How to plan for future need within existing housing stock and future development would always be fed into conversations with housing developers and there was an Aid and Adaptations Policy where, if people wished to stay at home, funding would be available to enable this. The Interim Assistant Director of Housing added that the Housing team had its own occupational therapists who go out to assess properties to make sure they are suitable for immediate and longer-term needs.

 

Councillor Jackson also commented that he agreed that the more case study examples would be useful and would welcome the inclusion of both positive and negative outcomes to demonstrate the fact that two scenarios which seemingly look similar, could have very different outcomes depending on circumstance. The Interim Assistant Director of Housing agreed that there were always important learning points to share and suggested that these case studies be incorporated into the work on the Action Plan which the Housing team will bring back to IPSC in October. Members were in agreement with this approach.

 

With regard to the suggested inclusion of wording addressing anti-social behaviour within the Housing Strategy, Councillor Lelliott provided draft wording via email to the Chair which was read out to the Commission and agreed upon by the members present.

 

Resolved:-

 

(1)  That the contents of the draft Housing Strategy 2025 – 2030 be noted;

 

(2)  That a further report on the draft Housing Strategy Action Plan be presented to the Improving Places Select Commission at the next scheduled meeting on Tuesday 21 October 2025, subject to the decision of Cabinet on the Housing Strategy at their meeting on 15 September 2025;

 

(3)  That the following considerations be provided to the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board to present to Cabinet on behalf of IPSC when they meet to consider the draft Housing Strategy on 15 September 2025:-

 

a)         That reference is made within the Housing Strategy to compulsory training being delivered to all Housing/Tenancy Officers regarding anti-social behaviour, using the following suggested wording:

 

“Our housing officers undergo comprehensive training to effectively deal with Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). This training ensures that they:
- Identify and understand ASB issues
- Know when and how to report incidents
- Are aware of the powers available to the council to address ASB.”

Equipped with this knowledge, our officers can take prompt and effective action to tackle ASB, providing a safer and more supportive environment for our community.”

 

b)         That the word “happy” is removed from Priority 4 of the Housing Strategy – “safe, happy and thriving” and replaced with “safe, thriving and places people want to live in”. Members felt that the word “happy” is too subjective and difficult to measure as it can mean different things to different people;

 

(4)  That more case studies with a variety of outcomes are incorporated into the draft Housing Strategy Action Plan in order to demonstrate lessons learnt and how particular circumstances can lead to different outcomes; and

 

(5)  That a “deep dive” into Anti-Social Behaviour and the challenges it creates for the borough be delivered to IPSC at a later date, to be determined.